How Things Work: Dropping in on Mars
NASA's Curiosity rover will try a new way of landing on another planet.
- By Tony Reichhardt
- Illustrations by Harry Whitver
- Air & Space magazine, January 2012
Harry Whitver
If the giant, bouncing airbags that delivered NASA’s previous rovers (Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity) to the Martian surface initially made some people nervous, the Sky Crane maneuver designed for the new Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory looks every bit as scary—at first. The most advanced and expensive rover ever sent to Mars, the $2.5 billion Curiosity will be lowered from a hovering, thrusting descent stage, on a bridle of three nylon cords, to a soft touchdown on the surface. No landing platform required: This explorer will start off on its own wheels. It may seem treacherous, but the Sky Crane maneuver was inspired by Sikorsky CH-54B helicopters that routinely airdrop heavy cargo on Earth. The method has advantages over bouncing airbags, which couldn’t have handled Curiosity’s one-ton weight. The landing should be precise and gentle, and because the descent stage flies away after dropping off the rover, there’s no rocket exhaust to contaminate the arrival site, as happens with conventional landers. The journey to Mars takes nine months, but the final, stomach-churning landing sequence, scheduled for August 5, 2012, takes less than a minute. Stay tuned.
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Comments (13)
This is a maneuver i have been waiting to see for years since they first started talking about it. The hardest part i would have to say is programming the sky crane to do such a task even though it may be easier then it really looks.
Posted by jacob michael lakin on November 21,2011 | 10:01 PM
I hope they don't just throw away the sky crane, but rather use it in some way after it has dropped off Curiosity. Maybe it could fly to the top of a hill, land there, and provide a panoramic view of what is around it as well as how curiosity is doing. I would think that cameras can not weigh enough to impact the overall weight of the sky crane.
Posted by David Blechinger on November 23,2011 | 09:53 AM
hope they get the meters/feet delima solved.
Posted by mike on November 23,2011 | 08:58 PM
I love the whole concept. Good work NASA
Posted by john torta on November 24,2011 | 10:58 AM
Let us not look around dumbfounded and surprised when this contraption fails spectacularly. It violates a basic tenet of engineering for exotic missions: K.I.S.S.! Do you not recall the Desert 1 fiasco of 1980? This Mars mission echoes some of the same complex features that doomed "Desert 1" and perhaps other lesser known projects.One more: The New York Times recently stated that the Curiosity landing sequence "evolved well in computer simulations." Yeah, right! It saddens me to feel so pesimistic about this fantastic endeavour. Best wishes to all concerned.
Posted by Prof. Rafael Enrique Irizarry on November 24,2011 | 11:36 AM
i wonder if it will send back televised images. how long does it take to receive a transmission from mars? science fiction is again fact. wow.
Posted by pc on November 26,2011 | 04:22 PM
I will put this on my calendar for the landing. What will be the main goal for Curiosity? I hope this will give our space program the boost it needs. We have been a country of explorers from the start and this has been one of the reasons that has made the US a great country to live in. I hope you will keep us updated on the progress. Thanks
Posted by Eugene Fridley on November 27,2011 | 01:13 PM
There's no mention if there will be cameras mounted on the descent stage to record the landing and transmit it Earth. That will be one spectacular video! Fingers crossed for the big event next July.
Posted by Mark Mallari on November 28,2011 | 04:24 AM
The video was stupid. A minute of video, then a green screen and some sound effects for 10 minutes. What?!
Posted by B L Bennett on November 28,2011 | 05:46 PM
2.5Billion?
They should have spread the $/Risk out better than that.
Better to drop 2 or 3 smaller less capable landers on the same mission than bundle everything in one.
It has been proven that post landing, the same mission team can handle activity for more than one explorer. Many of the findings on the ground from previous crawlers are unexpected and unplanned so more wheels on the groun mean more discoveries even if the instruments are less than perfect.
Posted by RLong on December 2,2011 | 03:45 PM
Mr. Long forgets that we have two rovers on Mars now and they are still sending new information. They are also going to help decide where this one lands.
The Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory will do a much more than thr two rovers there have done and will send back different information from its new instruments.
Posted by Gary Wruck on December 8,2011 | 10:09 AM
I think that the landing has a good chance of succeeding. I'm sure the team has overcome many engineering challanges posed by this unsual design, but on the other hand landings with braking rockets mounted on a descent stage have been done before. On this mission - with being above the payload instead of below - the descent stage is just in an unusual place.
Posted by Sven Weber on December 22,2011 | 02:22 PM
Good work done by NASA. We wish them success and more scientific discoveries.
Fred
Posted by Fred bwoye on August 19,2012 | 12:13 PM